Dopaminic
by MonaLisa20
Summary: There's just something about summer that everyone seems to love. Maybe it's the vacations, maybe it's the romance? Soren was never fond of it until now . . .  -Ike/Soren- AU  present day
1. Chapter 1: Good Ol' Yahtzee Nights

Hey everyone! Thank you for stopping by the factory. Welcome to a new story I've written for all of you! I _really_ hope you like it!

_Here's some info on this story:_

**AU **(present day)

**Pairings:** Ike/Soren mainly

The idea had been in my head for some time now after I played PoR about a month ago, and I just had to write it! Also, um, **Azalea** is a town I made up for this story. I wanted to set it wherever the Greil mercenaries' fort was in the game, but they never mentioned the name or gave me much info about it (other than it was on the countryside), so… I created my own.

Canteus is a fort (or a castle, if I recall correctly) that _is_ mentioned in the game, so I turned it into a city. And of course, Melior is part of the game as well as it is the capital of Crimea.

Without further ado, here it is! Enjoy!

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><p><strong>DOPAMINIC<strong>

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><p><strong>1<strong>

**GOOD OL' YAHTZEE NIGHTS**

There's something about summer that _everyone_ seems to love. To some, it means more parties at the pretty, rich girl's house, to others is showing off how much you've been working out through your new bright colored swimsuit, and to others is catching up on those video games you like to play all night with some pizza. But most people agree that the best part of summer are the _vacations_.

. . . But certainly not Soren.

Actually, being out of school and coming back to Azalea, a suburb at least thirty miles outside of Canteus on western Crimea, was certainly ruining his whole summer.

It had been a year since he left to study at Melior, yet things looked just the same; plain and un-amusing as always. Azalea was a nice town (at least it wasn't as crowded as Melior), but it certainly never fully appealed to Soren.

The town's characteristic maple trees looked as tall as ever, the cars from the residents where as shiny as usual, and even the air smelled faintly of vanilla sugar buns-Azalea's practically trademark food-as it always had. Definitely, it was as if he had never left.

He sighed.

The car pulled up in front of his family's well-kept villa. It was unreasonably big, and Soren honestly wasn't one particularly keen on luxury, but what could he do?

"Do you need any help with your luggage, Soren?" One of his family's employees, Ena-who also happened to be his mother's sister in law-, had asked once he got out of the gray Bentley's back seat.

"That won't be necessary" He replied simply without even faking a polite smile. He didn't have much luggage anyways; he preferred to travel light.

…

"Ike! Ike!" Mist came into her brother's room yelling excitedly "I've got to tell you something! Listen to this!" She found Ike lying on his bed still asleep. He groaned and put his pillow on top of his head.

"Come on, Ike! Wake up already!" She shook him hurriedly, even jumping on the bed with him, trying to roll him to the floor; a task truly impossible for a petite girl like Mist.

Ike groaned again, but finally sat up and looked at his sister with weary eyes and distressed hair.

"Mist, it's too early for you to be yelling like that" What time was it anyway? He was so _not_ a morning person. "What's going on?" He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

Mist smiled widely "Soren's back from boarding school!" She said enthusiastically (even if Soren was really Ike's friend not hers, but whatever) "He just arrived"

Ike's eyes widened "Really?" A smile tugged at his lips "So, he is already at his house?"

"I think he is. Mister Tauroneo called dad earlier this morning and said he was going to pick him up at the train station. I'm not sure, though" She twisted a lock of light brown hair with her finger.

"Alright, I'll go check" He stood up and reached for the door.

"Um, Ike?"

He turned around "Yeah?"

"You probably want to shower and get dressed first" Mist pointed at the army green sweatpants he wore as pajamas.

". . . Right"

He went straight to his bathroom.

…

Soren unpacked his books and placed them neatly on his mahogany desk by the window: _The Unbearable Lightness of Being_ sat at the top of the pile. His room had thankfully not been entered while he was gone; perhaps only to be cleaned, but other than that it looked the same as he had left it. It was a surprise, really, since his mother had been pestering him before he left about how much she wanted to re-furnish his room and make it look more . . . what was the word she used? That's right, _lively_. She had miraculously and thankfully allowed him to keep his privacy, and had kept the room as simple and gloomy as Soren liked it.

Come to think of it, where _was_ his mother now? He had expected her to be right at the door to greet him with her happy-and-perfect-family façade. Soren knew she loved him, of course, but sometimes . . . it was all too much. Fortunately for him, she had an incredibly busy social life to keep her occupied: whether it was the usual Wednesday meetings with her book club to discuss that _God wears lipstick_ book (and all of that _Kabbalah for beginners_ his mother was into at the moment), or another charity ball; she was always busy.

A few more books set on his desk and he was finally done unpacking. His clothes were already in his closet and his laptop was already plugged near his bed. He then quickly changed into a pair of loose jeans, vintage black converse and an eggplant colored fitted hoodie.

He felt tired from the trip back but he _obviously_ wasn't just going to take a nap. There was a person he definitely was eager to see after all these months; the only person worth coming back for (and not taking extracurricular summer activities at his school in Melior) So, not wanting to waste any more precious time, he exited his room to go to the Gawain residence.

…

"Oh! Hello, Jill!" Mist talked cheerfully through her pink Nokia "Do you happen to be at the villa right now?" She tried to speak extra-loudly so that her brother could hear her from the shower.

Jill Fizzart was a close friend of Mist's. Her father worked as part of Soren's family guard-they were _that_ loved-and thus spent most of her time at the villa.

"We were wondering if you by any chance knew if Mister Tauroneo had already picked up Soren from the station?"

"What did she say?" Came the muffled voice of Ike through the bathroom's thick wooden door.

"Shh!" Mist kicked the door and then pressed her back against it "Uh-huh. Oh! Really?" She asked excitedly "Aw. So sweet! And what did you tell him?"

"Mist!"

"Oh, Right, right" Mist giggled "Sorry, Jill, but could you_ please_ check if Soren's home? My brother here is driving me crazy" She made a pause as Ike came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Alright" he heard her say.

"What did she say?" Ike crossed his arms and frowned looking at his sister expectantly.

"Wait" Mist raised her forefinger.

There was a long pause in which Mist just looked at the tan colored carpet of the floor and Ike kept his gaze fixed on his sister.

"He _is_?" Mist chirped with enthusiasm.

"Ok, Jill. Thank you so much. Can you tell him Ike is coming to see him?" Mist winked at her brother who quickly went to the closet to grab his clothes "Yeah. See you tonight, thank you so much! Bye!"

She slid her phone back in her small apple-green purse and turned to Ike.

"Come on, brother! Soren's already there" Ike replied but it didn't sound much like anything since he was putting on a t-shirt "By the way, Jill said there was going to be a party or something tonight to welcome him. So you might want to dress a bit more appropriate"

And with that she left to get ready herself. She intended to look extra pretty for that party Jill mentioned, and maybe ask Boyd-another one of Ike's friends and also their neighbor to the left- to come with her . . .

…

He found his mother at her garden. More likely, his mother found _him_ when he went outside.

"My son, we've missed you so much!" Almedha gave him a tight hug before clasping his face with long, well-manicured nails. She was wearing one of her expensive Chanel black dresses and a matching, huge sun hat. She smelled strongly of that Nina Ricci powdery floral perfume she always wore.

Soren stepped away from her clasp.

"Glad to see you as well, mother" He said detachedly. "Have you by any chance heard from Ike?"

Almedha wrinkled her nose in distaste "Instead of asking about your father, or _me_, you inquire about that . . . _friend_ of yours right away" The way she had said 'friend', revealed instantly that that wasn't the noun she had in mind. Soren resisted the urge of rolling his eyes.

". . . Fine" He said "How have you been doing, mother?"

"Much better, actually" She squinted "I haven't had as many migraines as before, thank you for asking"

Soren nodded.

"Your father has been doing well, too" She added.

Soren pursed his lips. There was a reason he _didn't_ ask about Ashnard (he preferred to call him by his name rather than _father_), but his mother simply kept trying . . .

"Alright" He replied simply with a voice colder than before. He didn't get along with his father _at all_, so he didn't particularly care if he was doing good or not. He shifted from one foot to the other.

Almedha sighed, closing her eyes briefly "Very, well. You may go visit the Gawains. Just make sure to come back before dinner"

Soren nodded "I will" He quickly walked back to the house.

"And Soren," His mother's voice stopped him "We'll be holding a party tonight to celebrate you are back. So make sure you look presentable for the guests"

Soren walked to the glass door, suppressing a growl.

…

"Should I wear the yellow one?" Mist asked her brother, holding a flowy, short, canary color dress in front of her "Or should I wear the cream one?" She held another, even shorter, dress against her body "And maybe I could add my orange vest to this one . . ." She mumbled mostly to herself.

It was hard choosing the perfect outfit. It was even _harder_, when you only had your brother's opinion on the matter (especially if that brother is Ike).

"Both look nice" Ike shrugged.

Mist rolled her eyes "But which looks _nicer_?" She lifted both dresses -side by side- in front of Ike who was sitting on her lavender zebra comforter.

"Uh, which one you like better?"

"Oh, Forget it" She playfully punched Ike in the arm "Just go to Soren's house already!"

Ike stood up. He was wearing his usual jeans, worn-out brown work boots, and a pale blue plain cotton t-shirt. _'So much for dressing up for a party' _Mist thought, but didn't say anything. That was just how her brother was.

"Okay" Ike smiled "I'll see you there?"

"Of course" She nodded "Tell Soren I say hi!" She waved her hand and her bangles chinked like bells.

Ike nodded and went to the door.

…

"Soren! Wait!" He turned around as he heard his name being called just as he was opening the door of his navy blue Audi. It wasn't really _his_, but it was his family's and the one car he found himself driving the most whenever he was in Azalea (Whenever he didn't feel like walking, that is).

"Do you need something?" He arched an eyebrow as the redhead girl stopped before him. Her name was Jill, if he recalled correctly. She was wearing gray, faded skinny jeans, cognac riding boots, and a white short-sleeved top. She had her hair tied in her usual high ponytail. Seriously, had a thing actually _changed_ in the year he had been gone? He wondered.

"Well," She looked slightly nervous and cleared her throat "I received a call from Mist. She said Ike is on his way here"

Soren's eyes looked slightly surprised. He quickly closed the Audi's door "I see, thank you" He nodded "Is that all?"

"Ah, yes" She replied "That's it. I'll be going now, excuse me"

She left the garage hurriedly. Soren was plain scary to her, honestly; she mostly preferred to stay out of his way.

…

Ike drove his brown 1965 ford galaxy to Soren's home. It didn't look sleek or neat like the ones in the magazines. Somehow, it didn't look _classic_, it just looked old; but it was alright.

He had the car windows down, allowing the warm summer breeze to hit his skin. He hadn't seen Soren in a _year_. He had parted early last summer, after some fight he had with his dad (or disagreement. Or whatever Soren had called it back then); and didn't even come back for the holidays or spring break. He said he needed some space from Azalea and his parents, and thought going to that elite school at Melior was just what he needed.

It turned out it wasn't what _Ike_ needed. They had known each other since kindergarten, and having your best friend leave for so long, wouldn't be easy for anyone. True, they had kept in touch, but it wasn't the same. . .

He couldn't help but wonder: now that Soren was back, would things go back to the way they used to be? Having Yahtzee nights on Fridays, sleepovers on week days, and breaking their record on call of duty? (Fine. _Ike's_ record, since Soren just sat by him with a book).

He had a small smile plastered on his face as the villa finally came into view.

…

Soren was in his room sitting on the windowsill, looking down at the cerulean, clear water of the swimming pool outside. He was griping his Sony Ericsson with a paranoid grasp. His heart was beating fast and he tried to calm himself with slow, deep breaths. There was nothing to be nervous about, but his heart didn't get it. This was Ike! His best friend, Ike! Everything was okay; he was just coming to say hi . . . it hadn't been that long, had it? Perhaps he wasn't nervous, but excited . . .?

_**Knock**_, _**Knock**_

Soren jumped in surprise, clutching his chest with one hand. He stood up quickly and went to the door (almost tripping as he lost his balance).

He opened the door.

His heart gave a jolt; there, in front of him was Ike. And for all the things that hadn't changed in Azalea, Ike most definitely had. His blue hair was shorter, he was taller (_much_ taller), his arms were beefier, his neck was thicker and his face looked more angular and defined. He looked _very_ attractive.

. . . Wait, what?

"Soren!" Ike smiled.

"Hello, Ike" He kept himself composed despite his earlier reaction "Long time, no see"

They both stood there not so sure about how to continue. Was it okay if they hugged, or would it be awkward?

Ike slouched slightly since he towered over Soren. His neck was glazed with sweat and he smelt of aftershave and some light, woody cologne his sister had probably bought for him.

"I'm happy to see you're back" Ike said. His eyes traveled down to Soren's phone still in his hand "Sorry I didn't call first" He smiled apologetically, hoping he hadn't interrupted anything his friend had been doing.

"It doesn't matter" Soren shook his head and moved from the door "Come on in" he gave Ike a tiny, pearl white smile.

Soren's room smelled like . . . well, _paper_. Oddly enough, but it did. It was that same scent he caught whenever he opened a book-not that Ike did it often-or when the teachers handed them warm, new copies of their biology review. Just like that.

The room was twice the size of Ike's but had at least half the amount of stuff in it (if you didn't count book by book, of course). And if he didn't know Soren actually slept there (or at least until a year ago), he would have thought they had this room for real estate display; but with even _less_ human feel.

It did, however, have small Soren touches here and there. Like this weird phrenological head on his nightstand, or the elementary spelling bee first place diplomas on the walls; he had plenty of other academic prizes, but his mother kept them on the 'trophy room', against Soren's protests.

"I haven't been here in forever" Ike admitted, sitting down on Soren's queen-size bed "So, how was Melior? Did you like studying there?" Soren pulled his desk's wooden chair closer to his bed and sat down.

"School has been passable. But I certainly expected more of an intellectual challenge"

Ike chuckled "I don't think there's a school on the entire world that could be a challenge for you" _'us mortals aren't worthy'_ He added humorously as a mental note.

Soren smiled without even noticing "Hm. I was hoping this one would be" He ran his tongue over the back of his teeth "Do you want something to drink?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah, thanks" Ike said as Soren stood up and went to the stainless steel mini-bar at one of the corners in his room.

"I've got . . . diet coke, regular coke, water, iced tea, and . . . orange juice" He turned to look at Ike.

"Since when do you like soda?" Ike raised an eyebrow.

Soren shrugged and grabbed one of the bottles of water for himself "I just got here, remember? I don't know who filled the mini-bar" He opened his bottle of water and turned back to Ike "what would you like?"

"Coke's fine" Ike said.

Soren nodded and grabbed the ice-cold, red can. He closed the mini-bar's door with his foot and went to Ike.

"Here," He handed Ike the soda and sat back on his chair.

"Thanks" Ike took a hearty sip of his drink.

"You're staying here the whole summer, right?" Ike asked out of the blue.

"That's the plan" Soren nodded. "I'm not leaving until late August"

"August . . ." Ike repeated.

"Is something the matter?" Soren furrowed his eyebrows.

"I was sorta expecting you to stay here. You know, after summer. Come back to school here and all" Ike gave him a sad half-smile. "This town hasn't been the same without you"

Soren's throat suddenly felt cotton dry. Heat rose to his cheeks for some reason. He drank some more water to quell the sensation.

". . . I . . . promise to think about it" He said finally. It was nothing clear, and nothing definite. He wasn't promising Ike to help him with math every day after school, like he used to. Or even promising to be his best-friend-forever-and-ever like he did in preschool. He wasn't telling him he would transfer from boarding school back to King Ramon Academy here in Azalea. But the possibility most definitely made Ike happy, since his lips instantly curved upwards.

"Alright" Ike nodded.

They spent a few moments in a comfortable silence. Just sipping on their drinks and enjoying each other's company. That was one of the many things that made their friendship special; they could just sit and relax and not force conversations.

"Mother's having a party tonight" Soren said, looking at his black converse.

"Yeah, I've heard. A welcome-back-party, right?" Ike asked.

Soren nodded, toying with the bottle in his hands "I'm not going"

"You're not going to your own party? At your own house?" Ike asked.

Soren raised his chin just slightly "I refuse to be a pawn on my mother's constant pursuit of socialite attention" . . . And he didn't like people, anyways. _Especially_ not their rich neighbors and family friends, who would be all over his outfit and how nicely his tie matched his ruby eyes, or how he should absolutely date their daughters, since they were 'possibly soul mates'. His skin prickled at the thought.

"Okay. Since you're not going, I'm not going either" Ike stood up and stretched "So, want to do something else?" He turned to Soren.

"What did you have in mind?" Soren tilted his head to the side.

"What about some Yahtzee?"

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><p>And that's the very first chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to update as soon as I can! Oh, and <em>YES<em>: Ashnard is alive here. I think he'll be a bit of a challenge to write, but I'll try my best.

Thank you so much for reading this!

Hope we read from each other soon!

~MonaLisa


	2. Chapter 2: Casual parties

Hello everyone! The factory's back with the second chapter!

In this one, we explore a tad bit deeper into **Boyd/Mist** and there's some **Rolf/Mist**, too. And of course there's more **Ike/Soren**!

Here it is! Hope you like it!

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><p><strong>DOPAMINIC<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>2<strong>

**CASUAL PARTIES ARE SOMETIMES WHITE TIE **

Mist always thought of herself as your ultimate girly girl. She _looooved _girly dresses, she liked-but never quite mastered- cooking (like her signature Mist's Magical Meatloaf, she prepared for her dad whenever he was feeling down). She was very good at sewing and even went through a knitting phase two years ago in which even her brother had to wear the embarrassing mohair sweaters she made for him. And overall, if you could think of something considered feminine, chances are Mist was into it. But then again, the girls at her school didn't seem to think the same of her.

She attended Azalea's St. Altina school for girls: A private school full of privileged snobs. And all the girls at her school labeled her as the _hopeless tomboy _(And some of them even called her _tommy _for fun). There were some nice people there, sure. Like the always gorgeous, junior year, Elincia Ridell, or of course her good friend Jill Fizzart. But most girls tended to not really . . . get along with her.

And it wasn't that Mist wasn't friendly or hadn't tried to be on every club there was at school. It was just that the St. Altina girls didn't understand why Mist didn't mind getting her uniform dirty in art class, or why she actually enjoyed playing hockey with her brother's friends, or that she always spoke her mind and was nice to _everyone_; no matter where your parents worked or how much they earned. But above all, they didn't get why Mist couldn't afford that Balenciaga bag everyone was carrying, or that she had bracelets made of colorful plastic beads and not expensive diamonds; not that Mist minded one bit.

. . . And maybe that's why most of her friends were guys. Hm.

Speaking of guys, there was certainly a cute one named Boyd who lived next door in a house built in the same rustic Victorian style as Mist's.

She walked to her backyard and closer to the fence that connected to Boyd's own yard. Boyd lived with his father (who seemed to never be around), and his two brothers: Oscar and Rolf. Save for Oscar who had already graduated, they all attended King Ramon's Academy for boys along with Ike (though, only Boyd was on Ike's class).

"Hey, Boyd!" Mist waved cheerfully with one hand on top of the white fence "Dropped practice already?"

Boyd's backyard was turned into a basketball court four summers ago when he joined the basketball team at school. He practiced every day in order to keep his sports scholarship.

"Mist! Watcha doin', kid?" Boyd came closer to the fence. He was wearing his old shredded good-luck-sweats, muscle tee and a sweatband on his forehead. He'd cut his green hair recently and it looked even spikier than usual.

"_Kid_?" Mist blew out her cheeks "It's not like you are that older than me!" She glared, but in Mist's kind, blue doe eyes, it looked nowhere near a threat.

"But you _do_ look like a kid!" Boyd grinned "I even think peewee is getting taller than you"

"Oh, shut up, bonehead!" Mist stuck out her tongue and Boyd chuckled.

"No, but really, what brings you here, Mist?" He wiped sweat from his jaw with his wrist.

"Oh, right" Mist blinked, suddenly remembering about the party. She smoothed down the canary colored dress she had picked over the cream one "There's a party tonight at Soren's villa. I was wondering if you wanted to come"

"Sure" Boyd shrugged.

"With, um, me?" Mist tilted her head and looked at Boyd "Huh? Why are you blushing?"

Boyd's face just got redder "Quiet! I'm not blushing! It's just . . . sunburn. Yeah, that"

"That's such a lie!" Mist giggled.

"Whatever!" Boyd averted his eyes but kept blushing _'darn it!'_ "But, uh, you didn't mean with you as in . . . as in a date, did you?"

Mist pressed her rosy lips together ". . . N-no, of course not! I meant as friends. Duh" She laughed nervously.

"Oh, Heh" Boyd looked nervous, too "Okay, then. I'll go shower and stuff" He pointed back at his house "See you at . . . what time?"

"Seven" Mist answered quickly.

"Seven it is!" He waved and ran to the back porch "See you then, Kid!"

"I'm not-Oh, whatever"

She went back to her house feeling pissed.

…

"You hungry?"

Soren looked up abruptly from his score sheet and stared at Ike. They had set the game on Soren's coffee table and both sat crossed-legged on the sand colored carpet of the floor.

"Are you?" Soren replied. He put the dices back into the blue cup and shook it. He wasn't hungry; somehow he never seemed to be.

Ike shrugged "A little" He clicked and unclicked his pen "Some chips, maybe?"

"Hm" Soren flicked his wrist and the dice fell on the board. _'Yahtzee' _he thought, but merely wrote down the points scored. "I think we may have some pretzels in the kitchen" His mother loved those; It was one of her guilty pleasures. And even when she got into some form of diet (that she constantly switched), there never missed to be several bags of pretzels in the house.

"I'll go get them" Ike stood up and Soren did so as well.

"I'll go with you" He said. He patted some invisible dust off the back of his pants.

Soren looked at Ike and caught him staring back at him. He had the tiniest smile on his face, but for some reason that was enough for Soren's heart to start to thrum.

"What is it?" Soren raised an arched eyebrow. Ike just shook his head. "Nothing," He said "I was just noticing . . ." he trailed off frowning slightly; he almost seemed as if he was merely thinking out loud.

"Yes?" Soren pushed, feeling truly curious.

"Well, you've changed a bit, you know?" Ike said.

Soren frowned. _'Changed?'_ "I feel the same"

"No, I mean _physically_" Ike explained "You're taller" He pointed out "And your hair is longer" Ike stared at Soren's sleek green-black straight hair.

"Of course" Soren nodded, thumbing the sleeve of his hoodie. He suddenly felt self-conscious having Ike speak about his physical traits. "It's been a year, it is only natural. You've changed as well. Quite a lot, actually. You're much taller than the last time I saw you"

"Really?" Ike blinked.

"Yes. You haven't noticed?"

"Not really. No. Maybe Titania has said so once, but most people here see me every day so . . . I don't think anyone's noticed"

"Oh" Soren replied simply "Well, you have"

And for some reason, he found he felt actually glad for the fact that nobody else had noticed Ike's looks; the thought of a girl all over his friend made Soren feel somewhere in between disgusted and angry. But then again, he was sure they _have_ noticed Ike's physique, and he was just oblivious of the fact. It was quite common for Ike to be completely clueless about that type of things . . .

He pushed a lock of hair to the back of his ear feeling unexpectedly irritated.

"So are we getting those pretzels?" Ike pulled him back from his thoughts. Soren eyed him for a brief second before nodding.

"Sure"

He walked to the door, being closely followed by Ike.

…

Almedha never really had anything against Ike or his family.

Of course, it's not like she was particularly fond of them either since they were nowhere near close her social circle. But either way, the day little, kindergarten Soren came home with a gap-toothed equally young Ike, she was incredibly happy her son had finally made a friend.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Soren's mom" Ike had said that day "I'm Ike" He smiled widely with a few missing teeth. His shoes were grimy and his uniform was impossibly dirty (likely from playing in the schoolyard).

"He is the friend I told you about" Soren stated quietly, standing just a little closer to Ike.

From that day on, Almedha made sure to give Ike gifts from time to time. Like when she bought him a brand new soccer ball for no reason at all, or when she gave him that new video game he wanted a month before its official release. She would buy that boy's friendship for her son if necessary.

But that was then. Now . . . she wasn't fond of Ike in the least.

"Hello, Ike" Almedha said with a tight smile.

They had crossed paths just as she was coming out of the kitchen after making sure the preparations for the party were going all right. And then she saw that _friend_. He was casually conversing with Soren while the two of them headed her way

"Mrs. Almedha" Ike nodded in a greeting.

"Mother," Soren stared at her and squared his shoulders "Ike came to visit me instead" He stated, remembering he had told her he was the one going to Ike's house.

"So it seems" She said with that same forced smile on her face. "It's so nice to see you, Ike, dear" She narrowed her crimson eyes just slightly "But how rude of me! I take it Soren didn't tell you about tonight's party?"

Ike knit his eyebrows together looking confused "He did. Actually, my sister is coming by later, too"

"Is that so?" Almedha blinked "I just assumed he didn't, judging by your . . . attire. Or perhaps you're going back to your house later to change?"

"Mother," Soren said sharply.

Ike didn't seem to mind Almedha's surliness-or perhaps he didn't catch it?-so he simply took a quick look at his shirt "Is there something wrong with these clothes?" He asked with his usual frown "I thought the party was casual?"

"They're fine" Soren nodded, giving his mother a stern look.

"Well," Almedha cleared her throat "The invitations I sent said black tie" she pursed her lips "But don't let it trouble you. These clothes . . . suit you"

"Thanks . . .?"

Soren snorted and lightly grabbed Ike's arm to pull him past Almedha "If that's all, mother, Ike and I better be going. We were busy"

"Of course" Almedha's face looked pinched, she was obviously displeased.

Soren just strode past her without another word.

…

"I don't think your mother likes me that much" Ike said leaning against the white kitchen counter.

The cooks were working hurriedly trying to get the food ready for all the guests. A lot of appetizing scents were mingling in the air. It smelled deliciously of roast beef (which made Ike's stomach rumble), black pepper, butter, and garlic. You could even catch a whiff of vanilla and cinnamon coming from one of the ovens.

"Pay my mother no mind, Ike" Soren opened one of the cabinets and quickly found a hidden bag of pretzels "She's just being . . ." _'Idiotic? Paranoid?'_ he thought but settled for "overprotective" He tossed the bag of pretzels to Ike.

"Overprotective?" Ike blinked "I'm dangerous now?"

Soren could have laughed-yes, actually laugh- at that question; but he didn't. If there was anything Ike _wasn't_, it was dangerous. "Of course not" Soren shook his head "But mother says I pay more attention to you than to her"

He stared at Ike almost timidly for a second; as if he had just confessed a secret. It was okay to say he paid attention to Ike, right? Ike wouldn't suspect anything about it, right? Not that there was anything to suspect . . . But he stepped further away from the stove anyways because his skin was getting warmer.

"To me?" Ike sounded surprised; as if it wasn't plain obvious that Soren in fact didn't 'pay attention' to anyone but Ike. But understandably, he wasn't going to tell him that. So he walked towards the exit of the kitchen.

"It doesn't matter, Ike" Soren said "You know how my mother is. She tends to obsess over nothing" But specifically, over Soren.

"Like I said, pay her no mind" He insisted. A garson that had been hired for the party –one of twenty- kept staring at them nosily. Soren glared at him and the young man quickly averted his gaze.

"Whatever you say, Soren" Ike smiled and dropped the subject. He could probably see Soren's discomfort and decided to just let him be. He opened the plastic bag on his hands and munched on a handful of pretzels "Hey, let's go back to your room. Want to play Call of Duty?"

Soren nodded "Alright" he agreed, even if he hated that game . . . And even if he had been winning at Yahtzee.

…

Mist took a look at herself in the framed, wall mirror. Did she really look that young? She wasn't that short, was she? She was nowhere near as tall as her brother, of course, but she wasn't short either! Boyd was just being a jerk, as always.

Her reflection looked back at her. Her flowy dress reached her mid thighs and was made of a soft delicate fabric. Jill had once said it looked really cute on her, so she decided to wear it for tonight's party. Naturally, she had to add a few pieces to spice up the outfit. Like her brown boho lace-up boots, or her deep reddish-orange mid forearm length fingerless gloves. She was wearing her hair down (as always) and for makeup she just had on a cotton candy pink lip gloss and mascara; her style was most definitely quirky, but that's how she liked it.

"Kid . . ." She mumbled. And suddenly the Mist that was staring back at her didn't look fifteen but eleven. Her hair was much shorter and she stood awkwardly with twig-thin limbs. Her eyes looked even more Bambi-esque than they did now. She shook her head. No, she was _not_ a kid anymore! She puckered her thin lips. "Boyd, you're such an idiot!"

Mist's bedroom was bright and quiet. It smelled very fruity, like a combination of oranges and berries. The walls still had the flower stickers she had pasted on them when she was younger. She thought they looked cute and decided to keep them; but she sort of felt like taking them off right now . . . She glanced through her bedroom window towards Boyd's house.

Rolf was resting on the window sill letting one leg down. He was cleaning one of the archery trophies he had won last semester. The tip of his tongue was sticking out in concentration. He wore a navy polo shirt, white socks and khaki cargo shorts.

He seemed to notice Mist staring at him and suddenly raised his emerald green eyes to look at her.

She blinked feeling embarrassed. She probably looked really creepy just standing there staring at Rolf without saying anything. He didn't seem to mind, though, since he grinned at her and waved. Mist waved back, but didn't open her window to say hi. Rolf was Boyd's younger brother, but their personalities were like night and day. Rolf was very sweet and caring, while Boyd was . . . _'a jerk!'_ she thought angrily.

Rolf frowned and tilted his head to one side. Mist sighed and finally opened her window. "Hey" She said feebly.

"What's wrong?" Rolf sat up straighter and quickly put his trophy aside.

"It's nothing" Mist rubbed her left arm.

Rolf gave her a look "C'mon, Mist. You know I can _always_ tell when something's bothering you" He smiled. But really, probably anyone could tell when something was bothering Mist; it wasn't like she was any good at hiding her feelings.

"Okay, okay. It _is_ something"

"I'm listening" Rolf nodded.

"Well . . . it's . . . about your brother" She said as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Boyd?" Rolf asked blinking. It _had_ to be Boyd; Oscar was too nice to do anything that would upset Mist.

"Yes" She knitted her eyebrows together.

"What happened?"

Mist bit the inside of her cheeks "It doesn't matter" She shook her head and sighed "He just said something stupid . . . Who knows, maybe I'm just overreacting" She probably was. But she just couldn't help it.

Rolf frowned "What did he say? Should I go punch him?" He stared at her with a determined expression.

Mist smiled sweetly at him. Rolf was just like that: brave and always ready to protect her; even if he was actually younger than her and not that strong at all. "Well, um, it's sort of a long story" she cleared her throat.

"I've got time"

"Okay . . ." She said sounding unconvinced, but decided to tell him anyways. Talking to Rolf always made her feel better; it probably would this time, too.

"So, you see, there's this party at Soren's house tonight"

"Uh-huh"

"And, well, I decided to go . . ."

"Uh-huh"

"__AndIaskedBoyd togowithmeasmydate buthedidn'twantto andnowI'mmad!__" She paused to catch her breath.

Rolf looked at her as if she had grown out a third eye on her forehead or maybe a second pair of arms. She blushed lightly and looked at her shoes for a second.

"Um, Mist, I didn't understand a word you said" Rolf scratched his head.

"I said," She took a deep breath "That I asked Boyd to come with me to the party . . . but he called me a _kid_" She wrinkled her nose "And was, like, _'you didn't mean it as in a date, right?'_" she tried to mimic Boyd's voice "So I felt dumb and said I didn't, but I actually did. And now I'm _really_ mad at him!"

A long silence passed between them. Mist folded and unfolded her arms, waiting for Rolf to say something. The only sound they could hear was the song of an ice-cream truck that passed by.

"So you asked Boyd to the party, huh?" Rolf said finally, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Yes" She blinked confusedly "What is it? You wanted to come, too?"

"No" Rolf deadpanned.

"Rolf?" Mist asked. What happened? Wasn't Rolf in a good mood just now?

"I . . . gotta go" He stood up all of a sudden "I just remembered I told Shinnon I'd go practice with him today"

"What? But, Rolf! We were talking! What happened?"

Rolf didn't look at her and closed his window without explanation. Mist could only see him walk to his bedroom door, put on his combat boots quickly and then leave.

She stood there staring at Rolf's well-organized, empty room. She bit her lip. Everyone had told her they _knew_ Rolf had a thing for her, but she never believed it. They were friends, after all, and Rolf was two years younger than her; so she just thought of him as a younger brother.

Mist kneaded her temples.

She suddenly felt really stupid.

…

Soren had a huge flat screen LED TV in his room.

The minute they turned it on to play Call of Duty, Ike almost wanted to hug it in happiness. Why Soren had it in the first place, remained a mystery; since he _never_ turned it on when Ike wasn't there. As a matter of fact, he hated _everything_ there was on TV; even those boring documentaries on the History channel. Not that Ike minded, though. He certainly loved giving this TV the attention it didn't receive from its owner.

They sat comfortably on the floor with the bag of pretzels between them. Soren had a book on his lap and was just half-watching Ike kill a ton of zombies.

"You sure you don't want to play, too?" Ike asked with his eyes on the screen.

"No, thank you" Soren replied simply.

Ike paused the game and turned to look at Soren, "What are you reading?"

"_Preparing for the Twenty-First Century,_ by Paul Kennedy" Soren raised his eyes to look at Ike.

"Preparing? And here I thought we were living in it" Ike smiled.

"But the author wasn't when he wrote it. The book was published in the early nineties" Soren replied.

"Makes sense" Ike nodded "What is it about?"

Ike leaned toward Soren, trying to get a better look at the book. Soren scooted closer to Ike, too; almost crushing the bag of pretzels between them.

"It's about the different matters that would shape society in the future. Global warming, population growth, technology . . ."

They both raised their eyes from the book and stared at one another. For the briefest, craziest, most illogical second, Soren thought they might kiss.

"Is it good?" Ike asked.

"It is interesting, yes" Soren nodded.

"It definitely sounds like something you would read" Ike leaned back.

"I suppose" Soren answered simply.

There was a pause. Ike heard Soren turn the page on the book he was reading.

It took Soren a few more seconds to notice Ike never resumed the game; so he raised his eyes to glance at him again. Ike was staring back at him, and when Soren gave him a questioning look, he smiled. "Sorry" He shook his head and retook the game controller.

Soren reached out and lightly-almost unnoticeably-placed the very tip of his fingers on Ike's forearm. Tingles ran up his spine. Ike glanced back at him.

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to play, too" Soren looked down at the controller on Ike's hands.

"Sure" Ike said and handed him a second controller.

"Hey, Soren?" Ike said suddenly.

"Yes?" Soren replied with his eyes on the screen.

"I missed you"

Soren swallowed. He held his breath for a few seconds. Ike wasn't looking at him either; he was busily killing more zombies. Did he just imagine that?

"I missed you, as well" He managed.

And for the briefest, craziest, most illogical second, Soren thought Ike scooted closer to him.

* * *

><p>Wahoo! Second chapter done! I want to thank everyone who took the time to review last chapter! Feedback is much appreciated!<p>

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll bring the third one as soon as I'm done editing it ^^

Hope we read from each other soon!

~MonaLisa


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